33 minutes ago, peloto said:

There is a new version of games services, maybe that helps.

I'll not hold my breath, especially as I'm doing a backup at the moment, so I'll wait till that's finished to see if it installs properly. Probably not!

30 minutes ago, turbomax said:

my last Macrium Reflect7 full backup lasted 20 minutes, incl. verify (130 GB Windows 10 drive 😄 only), default compression onto USB 3.0 hard disk.

My backup didn't go well, with an error I didn't see mentioned in the help files. Semaphore timeout error, which I assume is some sort of communication thing between program and drive(s). Oddly I got a semaphore message today on another of my PCs as I was transferring GBs of files off an USB HDD. I think I also created trouble for myself by accidentally including a 4TB USB drive in the backup as well as unwittingly selecting a backup profile including incrementals, which the free Reflect doesn't allow. I've since done a C Drive only backup which only took 20 minutes and I'm doing another with all the internal drives which is currently 5:24 in and 3 hours to go...

Edit: It just went up to 4 hours to go.🙄 And now back to 3, so I must be somewhere inbetween!

Edited October 28, 20214 yr by 109Sqn

Backup finally completed after 10 hrs 32 mins and 59s. Yay, less than 10:33!😁

Too late to be thinking of a repair of Windows but I'll see what the Gaming Services update brings and then try an older System Restore if that fails as expected.

I don't know what's going on but my MS Store downloads are absolutely crawling along. There are 5 in the queue, one of them Gaming Services, another is Game Bar. At the rate they are going, it could take several hours to download the 5 updates, even though I checked my internet speed and it's showing the full 38Mbs I should get. Either there's an issue with MS servers or something else is amiss.

And I just notice a notification that my PC has now been offered the Win11 update. One thing at a time!🙄

1 hour ago, 109Sqn said:

I don't know what's going on but my MS Store downloads are absolutely crawling along. There are 5 in the queue, one of them Gaming Services, another is Game Bar. At the rate they are going, it could take several hours to download the 5 updates, even though I checked my internet speed and it's showing the full 38Mbs I should get. Either there's an issue with MS servers or something else is amiss.

Just went into the store, had 8 updates in the list (XBox + Game Bar amongst them), download and installing went by in under a minute (200Mbs line).

12 hours ago, Lange_666 said:

Just went into the store, had 8 updates in the list (XBox + Game Bar amongst them), download and installing went by in under a minute (200Mbs line).

Very odd. my 5 updates (totalling maybe 200mb or so) took until 18:00 tonight, so that's 13 hours!!! I'm still getting a steady 37Mbs on my 38Mbs line. Crazy. 

 

Interestingly, MS Store had 'updated' 3D Viewer, Groove Music and Mixed Reality Portal, three apps I'd uninstalled back when I first set up this PC as I didn't need them.🤔

Edited October 29, 20214 yr by 109Sqn

Restarted PC, opened XBox app, selected MSFS to run...

MS Store opens and prompts me to install Gaming Services!!!!🤬

Tried the MSFS shortcut, same result.😠

Windows repair looming...🙄

Uninstalling stuff like gaming services does not completely uninstall it. I use iObit uninstall tool (freeware) and it uninstalls and then does the next step cleaning out everything in the registry that the installation put there. There is usually a couple dozen things in the registry a program installation puts there. And only about half are removed. But iObit gets them all.

It's nagware (try our deluxe version! popup), but you can uninstall iObit uninstaller when your done with your task.

Anything you installed before you installed iObit Uninstaller has to be uninstalled, reinstalled, and then uninstalled again (but only necessary for those items you are going to uninstall). Because iObit records everything that is being added to the registry during an app installation. And you didn't have iObit recording that stuff when you first installed gaming services.

I've been a happy iObit apps user for over 10 years (only the freeware stuff, I don't mind the nags).

 

Edited October 29, 20214 yr by Fielder

7 minutes ago, Fielder said:

I use iObit uninstall tool (freeware) and it uninstalls and then does the next step cleaning out everything in the registry that the installation put there.

I use Advanced Uninstaller Pro (free) for the same reason. It also records installations as your program does.

15 minutes ago, Fielder said:

Anything you installed before you installed iObit Uninstaller has to be uninstalled, reinstalled, and then uninstalled again (but only necessary for those items you are going to uninstall). Because iObit records everything that is being added to the registry during an app installation. And you didn't have iObit recording that stuff when you first installed gaming services.

Understood, but if Gaming Services needs to be uninstalled and reinstalled before iObit can fully uninstall it, how can it be fully uninstalled before iObit records it being installed?🤔 Same would apply to any such program, including mine, especially as Gaming Services doesn't have a conventional uninstall option (i.e. needing the use of Powershell instead).

As an aside, Windows clearly doesn't like me as one of my other PCs now won't update!

Quote

Your device is missing important security and quality fixes.

There were some problems installing updates, but we'll try again later. If you keep seeing this and want to search the web or contact support for information, this may help: (0x80080005)

I have been seeing this for 24 hours and needless to say, searching (0x80080005) hasn't helped so far.🙄

20 minutes ago, 109Sqn said:

Understood, but if Gaming Services needs to be uninstalled and reinstalled before iObit can fully uninstall it, how can it be fully uninstalled before iObit records it being installed?🤔 Same would apply to any such program, including mine, especially as Gaming Services doesn't have a conventional uninstall option (i.e. needing the use of Powershell instead).

Because while you reinstall it, iObit records everything the installation puts into the registry during that installation. And so now it knows exactly what should be cleaned from the registry.

I've seen a few messages in this forum where people with the store version gave up and bought the Steam version and then had no more problems of this type. But even doing that is not a guaranteed solution. Steam does have a 30 minute use money back policy.

3 minutes ago, Fielder said:

Because while you reinstall it, iObit records everything the installation puts into the registry during that installation. And so now it knows exactly what should be cleaned from the registry.

As I say, I got that bit. But my point was, that if it's not uninstalling fully in the first place, there could be registry changes still in place before you record a new installation with iObit (or Uninstaller Pro etc). Therefore there is the possibility that the very registry entries which may  ( stress may) be causing the problem might not ever get deleted by the installation monitoring program.

I'm not trying to be obtuse here, it's just that I tend to be very good at spotting potential problems without necessarily knowing of  better approach!😁

3 hours ago, Fielder said:

I've seen a few messages in this forum where people with the store version gave up and bought the Steam version and then had no more problems of this type. But even doing that is not a guaranteed solution. Steam does have a 30 minute use money back policy.

Yes, buy through Steam is a common 'solution' (even on this very thread), but I'm not shelling out twice for the same product, with or without a 30 day refund option. Well, not unless MS would refund me if I kept the Steam version!🙄😃

Edited October 29, 20214 yr by 109Sqn
typo

SUCCESS!(for now at least).

I finally caved and repaired Windows by downloading the Windows Media Creation Tool and letting it re-install Windows whilst retaining my files, apps and settings. It finished successfully and I was able to launch MSFS without the Store popping up and prompting for Gaming Services to be installed. I opted for Safe Mode when prompted, just for the easiest launch and made a short flight before quitting to desktop. I had launched from Xbox app (as a test) before launching a second time from the MSFS shortcut in Normal Mode (well, I didn't get the option as I'd quit to desktop successfully),

So that's my recommended route to solve the problem. Whether that works for others is of course a different matter - this is MSFS after all!😁

 

By the way, I did read here that MSI Afterburner (amongst others) is claimed to possibly cause the problem, so I'd uninstalled it prior to this fix without it solving the issue. I also uninstalled the OBS app ((also a 'problem app') which I don't remember installing in the first place unless it was installed by another program, but I'd had it since pretty much day one of this PC apparently, but hadn't noticed it in the list of apps.🤔 

I'll reinstall Afterburner later and report back if I have any recurring issues.

10 hours ago, 109Sqn said:

I finally caved and repaired Windows by downloading the Windows Media Creation Tool and letting it re-install Windows

glad I could help. Now one more step: run the free version of Macrium backup, now that your system is running fine!